This disclosure relates to a system for testing mercury levels in gas, such as high pressure natural gas.
Mercury occurs naturally in geological hydrocarbons such as oil and gas, but the concentrations of mercury vary. High concentrations of mercury in gas can accumulate in processing equipment, which may increase exposure risk for those around the equipment. In some applications, such as natural gas pipes, the gas is sampled in order to report mercury concentrations.
Known mercury sampling systems use a sorbent trap to collect samples for testing, but in order to test the sample, the pressure of the gas needs to be reduced to accommodate the maximum operating pressure of the sorbent trap sampling system components. Such mercury sampling systems generally include a diaphragm regulator to reduce pressure upstream of a sorbent trap.